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Presidents Office, G. S. L. City
March 13, 1865.
President's Daniel H. Wells and Brigham Young, Jr.,
Dear Brethren:
In view of any difficulty which may arise between the United State and Great Britain I wish to suggest to you the propriety of your keeping in view a native Elder, one who has been here, and who can, if war break out between the two countries stay without incurring any difficulty, to take charge of the affairs of the mission, so that you can return home. It would be well for you, in view of such an event occurring, to always have your business in a condition that you can close it up readily and take your departure for home. Should such circumstances arise, the business of the Mission will have to be curtailed very much, and it might be wisdom to suspend the publication of the Star and to prin[missing] if it should be necessary to issue any printed matter, a small sheet occasionally. But you will know about this matter better than I do, and you can do as the Spirit manifests.
If war should break out, it will be advisable for you, before you start for home, to have the funds which have been deposited in your hands, as individual Emigration money, paid back to the depositors. That it may be known throughout all the conferences and to all who have made such deposits, it will be necessary for you to advise through the Star, or by means of circulars, that you desire all who hold certificates of deposit or Miscellaneous Deposits Receipts, &c., to present or forward the same to you for settlement, and close up that account. Of course, your Mis. Dep. book will give you the names of who have money in your hands, and by that can tell when you have settled with all. The I. E. A/C in the various Conferences, for which the Saints hold receipts in their Pass Books, should also be settled up strictly, that there may be no ill feeling and trouble arising out of the non-settlement of such small amounts. While upon this subject, I desire to say that the Saints in the various Conferences who deposit in the I. E. a/c. should not place money, say to exceed 10/-, in the hands of the officers of their branches; but they should forward it to the Liverpool Office and have your receipt for the amounts, and the amounts in your hands to the credit of the Conferences should be kept a low as low as possible, by having the money, which the Saints pay into the Conference I. E. a/c, transferred from that a/c to your books to their individual credit as soon as the amount is sufficient to admit of your doing so, and you give them receipts for the same. By taking this course those who may be inclined to defraud will have less power to do so.
The celebration of the 4th instant passed off very quietly. There was quite a large demonstration on the occasion, the procession reaching about one mile in length. The people from the Bench played a rather insignificant part in the procession, they not exceeding 250 men, probably, all told. After parading the principal streets they collected on Main Street, opposite the new Market house, and between Kimball Laurence's and Laurence's and Jennings' Stores, where a stand had been erected for the Orators. Judge Titus made an Oration of an hour and half's length-- a dry, uninteresting, pointless affair, that fell very flatly upon the ears of his auditors, his friends among the number; in fact, the latter were very much annoyed at listening to his remarks; for without doubt, the fully expected to astonish the people with his display of legal and historical lore, and to draw a wide distinction in their minds between the men of erudition such as are now here as officers and the peoples' leaders in the Priesthood. But no men ever made a greater mistake. ln no other city in the Union could such a crowd of people, variously estimated at from five to ten thousand, have been kept together so patiently under such circumstances to listen to such a speech; the speaker would have been cried down. The weather was cold and the people had to stand in melting snow and water for upwards of two hours during the proceedings. Capt. Hooper followed in a speech of about fifteen minutes length, which was right to the point and elicited several cheers. After the proceedings had terminated, the City Council prepared a collation, <to> which they invited several prominent citizens and Col. George and his staff to partake of. Col. George is in command of the post here now that the General has left. They professed to be much pleased with their entertainment, and one of the officers expressed great regret that the commanding General was not present to participate. The same officer and others afterwards stated to the Mayor and some members of the Council how much pleasure it would give the Commanding General and the officers to have a ball tendered by the City Council to him previous to his leaving for Denver, which he intended to do on the 8th instant. The City Council felt, that if the General and the other officers could accept an invitation to a ball, after saying what they had respecting us, they were quite willing to tender him one and thus have them give the lie to all the stories which they had published against us. He and the officers accepted the invitation gladly, and the ball came off on the evening of the 7th. They professed to be delighted, and the General was profuse in his acknowledgment of the honor which had been done him.
What a change do we here behold! You know how loftily <they> they held their heads, and how much they hoped to accomplished when they came here. Gaily and jauntily, with all the pomp and circumstances that would be likely to impress the citizens here with respect and fear, they came into this City--a large command with horses fat and fine, and all the et ceteras necessary for the accomplishment of their purposes. They felt to say: Let our eye look upon Zion, and let her be defiled. But they knew not the thoughts of the Lord, neither did they understand his counsel. Their numbers have dwindled to probably 300, and they have scarcely a horse that can be used; money is so scarce that they cannot even pay for going to the Theatre, and the celebration of the anniversary of the Bear River battle had to be deferred for want of funds to carry it out, and even when the celebration did come off, the money to pay for it had to be borrowed.
Your families are well and the families of the Elders so far as I know; the people generally enjoy good health. Peace prevails and there has been no change of sufficient importance to require note since I last wrote. The weather has been very stormy and cold; we have had a supplement to the winter; for it was supposed some weeks since that the winter was breaking up. We are now having a thaw.
With love to yourselves and families and the Elders, in which President Kimball and the brethren of the Twelve, who are here, join, and praying the Lord continually to bless and preserve you and prosper you in all your labors.
I remain, as ever, Your Brother,
Brigham Young
I wish you to release Bro. Wm. H. Shearman and let him take a quick passage home.